The cover for this mini album is created from plaster cloth. If you have not worked with plaster cloth you really should give it a try. It’s a fun medium. Once the plaster cloth dried I painted both covers. Then I antiqued the hearts with a color wash. You don’t need anything special to create a color wash. All you need to do is water down your acrylic paint to the desired shade and apply it to your project with a paintbrush. While the color wash is still wet, use a paper towel to dab random areas so some spots have more of a wash then others. Plaster is a great medium to add a color wash to because the wash runs deep into the crevices of the plaster. I plan to fill this mini album with pages created from...

Bottle Brush Trees are fun to alter for any holiday or to use year round as a home decor accent. You can attach these to wooden spools, perfume bottles, small glass jars, in shadow boxes, really pretty much on anything. Also, if you want to color your trees it’s easy using any of the non-iridescent Maya Mist colors. This altered bottle brush tree is so fast to create you can have it completed in under 5 min. Supplies Needed: Bottle Brush Tree, Small Glass Bottle, Seed Beads, Small Flocked Flowers, Seam Binding, Crochet Doily, White Maya Road Glitter Dust, Dina Wakley Gel Medium Tools: Scissors, Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks Instructions: Place seed beads into small glass bottle. Cut stems on small flocked flowers to shorten slightly, place into bottle. Double knot a piece of seam...

It’s always so exciting to be invited to participate in the Ranger Designer Challenge. Basically how it works is Ranger picks a product line to feature, sends the designers a box of the products and you create a project using these products. This year the challenge was a canvas using Dina Wakley’s Media paints, stencils and stamps. Talk about a fun challenge. I also used some Tim Holtz Distress Stickles Dry Glitter Rocky Candy and of course Diamond Stickles. I have fallen in love with Dina’s Media paints. They come in a tube with a flip top and are heavy body acrylics that spread like butter! I already have her new colors Glitz, Sterling and Penny on my list of “Must Have Now” as well as Dina’s super cool new Media Fine Tip Applicator. These...

These ornaments were first blogged about on December 13, 2007 and are an easy and fun orna­ment to make for an ornament exchange, to give as a house­warm­ing gift using their family photo or attached to gifts for fam­ily and friends. Just one thing though, be care­ful… these are very frag­ile! I know first hand because I broke one. I think I’m going to look for some clear plastic ornaments as they will be more durable. Sup­plies Needed: Clear Orna­ments, Trans­parency, Maya Road Rubons, Rib­bon, Faux Snow Tools Needed: Coluz­zle (cir­cle), Scissors Instruc­tions: Print wal­let sized pho­tos in greyscale onto transparency Cut out photo using your Coluz­zle or other form of cir­cle cut­ter to appro­pri­ate size for your ornament Roll up trans­parency and place inside of orna­ment (you might need to flat­ten it out just a bit once it is...

I’ve been searching through my “Blog Archives” and thought I would re-post this cute hol­i­day ornament that was originally posted on December 3, 2006. It’s a fun holiday craft that’s perfect for any age. Get­ting the triangles just right is a bit tricky but once you get the hang of it this project moves along quite fast. Sup­plies Needed: Pat­terned Paper, 2″ Cir­cle Punch (I used the Whale of a Punch), Adhesive, Craft Stick, Ribbon, Eye­let, Jump Ring, Embroi­dery Floss, Stick­les (Crystal) Tools Used: Crop-a-dile, Scissors Instruc­tions: Punch out 10– 2 in. cir­cles. See Image One Fold up the edges of each cir­cle so that you form a tri­an­gle in the cen­ter of each cir­cle. See Image Two Glue 5 of the folded cir­cles together mak­ing sure the tops of the tri­an­gles are point­ing up in order to form a cir­cle. Make sure to...

I wasn’t kidding when I said I love countdown calendars as much as any kid… here is a countdown calendar for all you bakers. It’s perfect to place on your counter next to your cookbooks or placed on your kitchen island. And this year, I’m all about using what I have so the holiday pick is from years past. Hobby Lobby has one with faux peppermints that is calling my name but nope I’m not gonna do it… I’m sticking with the, use what I have method this year. Products Used: Tray, Distress Paint Linen, Americana Chalkboard Paint, Holiday Pick, Vintage Wooden Sporks, My Mind’s Eye ~ Joyous Decorative Tag & Alpha Sticker Sheet, Coffee Archival Ink Tools Needed: Paintbrush, Craft Mat, Blending Tool & Foam, Hot Glue Gun, Hot Glue Sticks This tray is really simple to...

I have been de-stashing my studio and am offering some really great deals on new or gently used products, kits and handmade ornaments. If you wish to purchase a Crafter’s Mystery Goody Box please leave your email address and the box or boxes you wish to purchase in the comments section or email me at lisa@lisapace.com and I will then send a paypal invoice to that email address. US only. 1 – Medium Flat Rate Box $45.00 with FREE SHIPPING This Mystery box contains assorted new or very gently used products from Ranger Ink, Tim Holtz, Maya Road, Fiskars and other major manufacturers. 2 – Small Flat Rate Boxes $20.00 each with FREE SHIPPING Each Mystery box contains assorted new or very gently used products from Ranger Ink, Maya Road and other major manufacturers. This...

This holiday season I’m all about getting projects done in a day. This year, I can’t afford the take a week to complete a project, you all know I’m very capable of creating a mole hill kinda project into a mountain kinda project. So I thought and thought of how I could create a “Countdown to Christmas Calendar” without it taking me days to complete. I love counting down to Christmas just as much as a kid and thought I would share with you what and how I made mine. This project should take 3 hours tops from start to finish including drying time for the paints. Products Used: Maya Road Countdown Shadowbox, Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber Juniper & Metallic Gold, Coffee Archival Ink, Glue Stick, My Mind’s Eye ~ Joyous 6” x 6”...

I always love a creative challenge so when a customer asked if I could create a pendant from one of my dried acorns I of course said sure. As I thought more about the necklace I felt (no pun intended) having a needle felted oak leaf would look adorable along side the acorn. The challenge came when I realized I had never needle felted an oak leaf. Amy picked the color of the felt for her leaf and away I went. I think this is the cutest pendant and I already have another customer requesting a similar necklace, this time with a teal leaf. Amy’s oak leaf is made using the #3 felt color and Diana’s will be created using #9. If you would like a necklace created with a dried acorn pendant and needle felted...

I was so super happy when I discovered (which is what happens when you clean areas of your studio, you discover things) I had a set of 6″ x 8″ pocket pages that fit inside my art journal. Since these pocket pages are a variety pack I have several different sized pockets that are perfect to add different sized art pieces into my journal. Yes, I’m happy. So once I discovered I had more options for my art journal I decided to create a small ATC type piece to put into one of the pocket pages. This card measures 2.75″ x 4″ so it is a bit off in measurements for a traditional ATC which is 2.5″ x 3.5″. The base of the card is from a portion of the left over postcard I had from my first...

Well I finally did it, I started an art journal. But let me tell ya it was not an easy start. I started out with one page, really didn’t like the bold colors because let’s face it, I’m not a bold color kinda gal, so I then thought I would tone it down a bit, then I really didn’t like it and had to step away from the table because I could feel some major frustration coming on. This is when I decided I would try to make some DIY lip gloss, so I did. It was super fast, easy and I really like it. DIY Lip Gloss Recipe All you need is 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, 1/4 teaspoon of Vaseline and 5 drops of Peppermint essential oil or the essential oil of your choice....

I really love seeing all the amazing art journaling that lots of my friends do but I have issues, like serious issues when it comes to the journals. I love dimensional collage which means, I like to stick LOTS of bulky things in my art. Well, this does not work well with a lot of art journals due to the type of binding most have so the problem was solved this week by creating my own art journal. Now I can add all the bulky items I want and the art journal will still close. The thicker my art journal gets is no biggie because all I need to do is use larger binder rings. Even though I’ve used vintage items that you might not have on had to create my art journal my ideas...

This is one of my favorite headpins to make and add to my Boho chic style jewelry. It’s super easy and really unique. All you need are wire cutters, 20 gauge wire, a hammer and a steel block. Using wire cutters, cut a piece of 20 gauge wire to 2″ in length. The angle of this photo makes it look as though it’s less but believe me the wire is 2″. Using a hammer, flatten one end of the wire as shown. You want the end to be flattened wide enough so the bead you will be using does not fall off. Next, thread the bead onto the wire then wire wrap the bead onto the wire as shown in this previous wire wrapping tutorial. Here is an example of how the beads look...

I love the sweet sound of charm bracelets and I’m so lucky to have my grandmother’s charm bracelet. I still remember the sound her bracelet made as she wore it. I LOVED being able to find the engraved charm with my name and birthdate, it hung nestled among all her grandchildren and other special charms she had been given. These two charm bracelets are crafted from hand cut vintage tin, that I cut, sanded and turned into charms. Each charm creates a soft sweet sound that reminds me of a wind chime far off in the distance on a Texas farm. I accented each charm bracelet with a strand of pearl like beads and the bottom charm bracelet has vintage clear glass beads wire wrapped and attach between the tin charms. Each bracelet is a one of a...

While Bellie was busy painting or watching movies I was busy creating new one of a kind jewelry designs for my Etsy shop. As you can see, this week I was able to add several pieces. I must admit my favorite this week is the owl pendant. These new pendants will look gorgeous with any Autumn attire. Yes, I’m wishing this Texas summer away, although I must admit it has been one of the coolest in 7 years. You’ll find some new resin charms too. These charms have vintage embossed papers or tin encased in resin with wire wrapped freshwater pearls or vintage bead accents. This set reminds me of a beautiful mosaic. I love the warm tones of orange, red and yellow. All my pendants come with either an 18″ or 24″ ball chain...

These dress necklaces accented with wire wrapped vintage beads are the latest designs added to my collection of handmade vintage boho chic jewelry. I think what I love most about my jewelry line is no two pieces will ever be duplicated. They are all one of a kind pieces and I LOVE it. I am always looking for items that are unique to wear and this line is perfect. FYI… If you see a heart, dress, cross or rectangle necklace in one pattern but wish it was in another pattern, please feel free to contact me as I might be able to customize a necklace for you and the cost will stay the same. I don’t charge more for this kind of customization. As you can see my new jewelry line combines my love of vintage with my love of casual...

I’ve really been enjoying the creative process of jewelry making. Each piece of jewelry I create is one of a kind and has been created from items I’ve collected from all over the country during my travels. Most of the items used are unwanted, broken and rusted treasures that I bring to life in a new fashion. I’ve lovingly taken the time to clean and combine these items into something you will want to wear proudly. These bracelets are the newest items listed in my Etsy shop and will make perfect gifts for any lady in your family....

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About Lisa M. Pace

My second book, “Delight In The Seasons,” was published in January of 2012. My third tech­nique-based book, “Delight In The Art of Col­lage”, is sched­uled for pub­li­ca­tion in Jan­u­ary 2014 by North Light Books/F+W Media Inc .